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EPTE Newsletter: Can the Planet Survive “Going Green?”

The Japanese government ended subsidies for hybrid vehicles in September, three weeks earlier than originally planned. The budget for the program was exhausted sooner than anticipated, as Japanese consumers scrambled to purchase "green" cars. Immediately after the announcement, automobile manufacturers, including Toyota Motors and Honda Motors, planned to scale back production for hybrid cars, betting that sales will not remain at current levels without government subsidies.Lets peel away some of those layers of onion skin and see what's really going on with the "go green" attitude from auto makers. Automobile manufacturers developed hybrid vehicles to attract fuel-efficient-minded consumers, as well as public transportation directors eager to lower their fleet's petroleum costs. They touted the increased miles per gallon, promoted a "go green" campaign and recommended replacing old gas-guzzlers with a more fuel-efficient hybrid vehicle. They even convinced the government to sponsor a subsidy program to assist in replacing the less fuel-efficient vehicles. There isn't a politician alive that wouldn't jump on the chance to promote to their constituents a "go green" campaign that has government money behind it. The auto maker's strategy worked very well. New car sales increased, and vehicles sold at full retail price. The government subsidized the discount to consumers and automobile manufacturers enjoyed very high margins on all units sold. One of the regulations from the program was to scrap all used cars that were traded in--some of them were worth more as parts vehicles, but still were required to be junked. If we look at the whole cycle from new car manufacture to old car crushed in a junk yard, how much did we help the planet? Additional materials and energy were consumed at manufacturing plants, more carbon dioxide was released, more money was put into the economy so consumers could drive to more places and spend more money (releasing even more carbon dioxide) and use up even more natural resources. The song remains the same for other alternative energy industries, such as solar and wind power. Government subsidies created additional business for manufacturers of photovoltaic devices and windmill equipment. The reality with some of these green industries is their products cost a lot more than the traditional products they are replacing. These new products don't last as long and are scrapped or in need of costly repairs before consumers can absorb the start up costs associated with flipping the switch to the alternative power source. Sure, manufacturers and construction companies are benefiting from increased business, but more natural resources are consumed when a subsidy campaign begins. I can't paint the entire industry with a broad brush, but I do think we should look at any subsidy program that may drain even more resources from the planet. Japan has a national holiday this weekend: Autumnal Equinox. We plan on taking the weekend off and will not publish a newsletter next week. As a matter of fact, we are probably helping out the planet by not commuting to work and firing up our computers!Dominique K. NumakuraDKN Research, www.dknresearch.comHeadlines of the Week

(Please contact haverhill@dknreseach.com for further information on the news.)1. Bridgestone (Major tier manufacturer in Japan) 9/2The company has invested 1 billion yen to triple the monthly production capacity of its electronic paper plant the Iwaki Plant to 15,000 sheets. The new line starts production in September.2. Furukawa Electric (Major cable manufacturer in Japan) 9/3The manufacturer has commercialized a new LED reflection board, "MCPET," for LCD TVs. The new board has air bubbles smaller than 10 microns and provides increased brightness.3. Irie Koken (Vacuum equipment manufacturer in Japan) 9/3The manufacturer has developed a new high-performance bulb for vacuumed RTR manufacturing lines. A differential pumping system makes a perfect sealing for the materials.4. Sato Vacuum (Vacuum equipment manufacturer in Japan) 9/3The manufacturer has commercialized a new vacuum dryer for gas removal and the dry process of photovoltaic and fuel cells.5. EEJA (Electronic chemical supplier in Japan) 9/7The supplier has released a new neutral palladium plating bath solution, "Micro Fab Pd," for the building process of micro bump arrays for LCD driver modules.6. Touch panel manufacturers in Taiwan 9/7The manufacturers have been enjoying business from Apple with the iPad and iPhone 4.  The companies expect boost in business to last at least one more quarter.7. Ibiden (Major circuit board manufacturer in Japan) 9/7The manufacturer has organized a new consortium with JSR and Tokyo Electron for an R&D project for next-generation lithium ion capacitors.8. Hitachi Chemical (Major electronics material supplier in Japan) 9/8The supplier has released a new conductive film, "CF Series," for photovoltaic cell panels. It is available for sputtered type and organic compound types.9. Furukawa Electric (Major cable manufacturer in Japan) 9/8The manufacturer has developed a new Cu/Ni/Si alloy with a high tensile strength of 800MPa for the contact material of small size connectors.10. UL Japan (Subsidiary of Underwriters Laboratories) 9/9The company has opened a new laboratory in Mie Prefecture for testing solar power equipment.11. Mitsubishi Chemical (Major chemical company in Japan) 9/8The company will invest 1 billion yen to increase the annual production capacity of cathode materials of lithium ion batteries to 7,000 tons.Recent Articles from DKN Research

1. "Introduction of the Manufacturing Process for Printable Electronics (Japanese)," Dominique Numakura, Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun, January, 2009.2. "Advanced Screen Printing Process - Practical Approaches for Printable & Flexible Electronics," Dominique Numakura, 3rd IMPACT (International Microsystems, Packaging, Assembly and Circuits Technology Conference) and the 10th EMAP (International Conference on Electronics Materials and Packaging), October 2008 (a copy of the paper and PowerPoint charts, written in English, are available by request).3. New "Printable Electronics by Advanced Screen-Printing Process." Dominique Numakura, CMC Publications, Tokyo, June, 2010 (Japanese only).4. New "Photovoltaic Cells will be Flexible," Dominique Numakura, Electronic Parts and Materials, July, 2010.5. "Fine Line Thick Film Circuits with High Conductivity Built on Flexible Substrates are Capable of Soldering," Robert Turunen, Dominique Numakura, Masafumi Nakayama and Takashi Yamamoto, IPC Printed Circuit Expo/APEX and the Designers Summit, April, 2009.6. New "The Latest Technical Trends of the Printed Electronics," Dominique Numakura, Electronic Parts and Materials, January, 2010.7. New "Thick-Film Circuits with Silver Via Holes," Hisayuki Kawasaki, Masafumi Nakayama, John Rufiange and Dominique Numakura, Printed Circuit Design & FAB, July, 2009.8. New "Technology Trends of Printable Electronics," Dominique Numakura, Electronic Packaging Technology, June, 2010.9. "New Printable Electronics and Ultra Thin Flex Connector Developed by DKN Research," Robert Turunen and Dominique Numakura, Live Interview during IPC APEX EXPO, April, 2009.10. New "Industry Trends of Flexible Electronics," Dominique Numakura, Electronic Journal, October, 2009.

11. "Flexible LED Arrays Made by All Screen-Printing Process," Dominique Numakura, Robert Turunen, Masafumi Nakayama and Takashi Yamamoto, IPC Printed Circuit Expo/APEX and the Designers Summit, April, 2009.

To contact Dominique, click here.